Dell Optiplex: comparing cases?

Info & chat about quiet prebuilt, small form factor and barebones systems, people's experiences with vendors thereof, etc.

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DanOnKeys
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Post by DanOnKeys » Tue May 27, 2003 9:49 am

Any reason why no one has mentioned IBM? If you're not going to do it right (built it yourself), I would recommend an IBM. They're not silent, but every bit as quiet as the Dells I've encountered (we've got about 150 Dells here at work, and we stopped using Dell and are now using IBM -- we just got a couple dozen IBMs).

Rory B.
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GX260 SFF

Post by Rory B. » Mon Jun 09, 2003 7:07 am

I have a friend that does his homework, and the SFF Optiplex GX260 is the quietest case/cooling design that Dell sells. I know that on the CPU, Dell has gotten rid of the axial fan in favor of a centrifugal blower, built by NMB. The blower sit on top of an Alpha-like heatsink and pulls air out, rather than a configuration like the Noise Control Silverado where the blowers blow down onto the heatsink. Having seen the inside of a Slim Desktop, I know that its power supply also integrates a centrifugal blower. I am not sure whether or not the SFF power supply's fan is centrifugal also. I also know the new SFF Dimensions have a larger blower on the processor (for cooling that big 3.06 GHz CPU). No word, though, on how the SFF dimensions (which are engineered for the home environment) compare noise-wise to the SFF OptiPlexes (which are designed for an office environment where noise is a concern).

aphonos
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Re: GX260 SFF

Post by aphonos » Mon Jun 09, 2003 8:46 pm

Rory B. wrote:I have a friend that does his homework
That's great. Most of the folks I hung out with never did their homework :wink: But what I really wanted to respond to was....
Rory B. wrote: and the SFF Optiplex GX260 is the quietest case/cooling design that Dell sells.
...by referencing MikeC in this thread: Quiet pc as compared to dell...
MikeC wrote:According to Dell's own spec sheets, the quietest SX260 is the Small Form Factor version, which has a sound power rating of 3.8 bels and 25.1 dBA SPL at "Operator Position" (~.6 meter from front panel). This is with the drive at idle. With the drive working, the numbers jump to 4.2 bels and 30.8 dBA SPL.

My noisiest system right now measures ~28 dBA at .6 meter -- regardless of drive activity (it is a suspended Barracuda IV). My quietest system measures 16 dBA at .6 meter -- again regardless of drive activity with another suspended Barracuda IV. These were measured in an ambient of 12 dBA. at around 1am with a highly accurate calibrated B&K SLM capable of reading below 0 dBA: measure background noise, then turn systems on & allow to run folding ~20 mins, then measure again.

Neither system changes volume when pushed hard (which they are because they are always running folding at home).

The noisiest one is a P4-2.8G + 512MB RAM + GF4-4800 VGA + two 'cuda IV 40G drives. It has 4 Panaflo 80L fans at various speeds.

The quietest one is a P3-1.1 Tualatin w/Matrox G550 + 512MB RAM + 1 'cuda IV 40G drive. It has 3 Panaflo 80L fans at 5~6V.

The SX260 looks easily beatable to me. 8)
Hope this isn't too close to cross-posting, but wanted to make sure Dell was accurately represented. :D And I'm not sure that their SFF case is even the quietest they sell.

Mark Larson
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Post by Mark Larson » Mon Jun 09, 2003 11:38 pm

MGP wrote:the dell optiplex small form factor pc is REALLY quiet...i used one of these at a college store, and its the real deal. the system i saw (2.53 GHz P4, 512MB DDR) was not that hot either. i was drooling to open the system right there in the middle of the store to figure out its cooling design, i held back the urge. :wink:
How did you figure out it wasn't "all that hot"?

aphonos
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Post by aphonos » Thu Jun 12, 2003 10:54 pm

The ongoing saga of Dell experimenting...

The Dell Optiplex GX260 SD (small desktop) and the SMT (small mini tower) have their fans ramp way up when the system is foldin.....er, "stress-tested." :roll: I've been playing with a few of these in the IT workroom this week. It is not the annoying fan whine of a Delta :evil: screamer, but you can definitely hear the system is running from several meters away. It is a noticable whoosh. The SMT is louder than the SD. It wouldn't bother some folks (then again, Delta's don't bother some folks), but I think it is outside of the target noise range for SPCR.

The GX260 SD that is in my office is generally very quiet--even when I am working in the late evening in an otherwise quiet office area--as long as I am only surfing, emailing, running remote control, or word processing (not CPU-intensive tasks).

pingu666
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Post by pingu666 » Fri Jun 13, 2003 6:29 am

maybe i should start a business selling silentpcs and cool gear :)
The GX260 SD that is in my office is generally very quiet--even when I am working in the late evening in an otherwise quiet office area--as long as I am only surfing, emailing, running remote control, or word processing (not CPU-intensive tasks).
well u obviuously need to type faster :wink:

shizukapc
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Dell specs

Post by shizukapc » Tue Jun 17, 2003 9:49 pm

Just received my Dimension 8300 P42.6, GF4MX: definitely quiet in most cases:

92 mm JMC-Datech fan 9232-12HBTL-2 fan (as listed on the fans recommended page) in duct as with Optiplex article.

It is almost silent at first boot. For normal desktop stuff like surfing, office stuff, very quiet... at work it's inaudible compared to the background noise. At home, it's whisper quiet until the room heats up (no AC :cry: ) past 84F.

Tested with ATI Radeon 9700 Pro and definitely notice its fan versus the JMC.

Fan really ramps up (though not like a Delta or Tornado fan) when case temps approach 40C (experience with Athlon 2500) and does so with the P4 as well. But turn SETI off and it quiets down nicely once the CPU cools off.

I don't know about the rest of you but if you don't mind spending a little extra and don't mind the limited upgrade path (motherboard/PS are a tag team designed for this case), this is about the safest compromise between heat and noise I've seen.

pingu666
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Post by pingu666 » Wed Jun 18, 2003 5:28 pm

the limited upgrade path would drive me mad :\

zopeka
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Post by zopeka » Mon Jun 30, 2003 12:17 pm

Thanks for all your reactions to my original question. In the end, based also on all your feedback, I decided against the Optiplex. The thought of paying a premium for a completely proprietary system that might *still* be too loud for my taste was too much to bear.

Instead, I picked the Asus Pundit SFF system, put together by a local shop/integrator. This is only partly proprietary, and I got much better bang for the buck. Ironically, I find this box still too loud, due to its 1700 rpm minimum fan speed, even at low temp. So now I'm shopping for (a) a suitable Asus Pundit mod or config adjustment and (b) maybe an Optiplex SD after all, because I need two new systems... :-)

Drats! Anyway, thanks for all the help so far...

-zopeka

CRT_Leech
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Post by CRT_Leech » Wed Jul 02, 2003 7:43 am

[quote="zopeka"]Thanks for all your reactions to my original question. In the end, based also on all your feedback, I decided against the Optiplex. The thought of paying a premium for a completely proprietary system that might *still* be too loud for my taste was too much to bear.

Instead, I picked the Asus Pundit SFF system, put together by a local shop/integrator. This is only partly proprietary, and I got much better bang for the buck. Ironically, I find this box still too loud, due to its 1700 rpm minimum fan speed, even at low temp. So now I'm shopping for (a) a suitable Asus Pundit mod or config adjustment and (b) maybe an Optiplex SD after all, because I need two new systems... :-)

Drats! Anyway, thanks for all the help so far...

-zopeka[/quote]

We have all three form factors of that model (GX260) side by side, along with a Dimension 450 and a couple Gateways. The Small Desktop and the Small Form Factor are quieter than the Small Mini Tower, mainly due to the size of the fan on the Small Mini Tower. Though, all three are near dead silent. We had to unplug an LCD projector which has a fan running all the time, just to hear them. They were noticeably quieter than the Gateway E-4000 small form factor cases.

I think you would be hard pressed to build a quieter system then a Dell, without going with drive isolators, fan less heat sinks, etc. Arguments about proprietary components and upgradeability aside.


Good luck,
CRT_Leech

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